Tag

Swiss made

Browsing
The Watches

Moser Debuts Stealthy Streamliner Tourbillon

H. Moser & Cie combines two of its trademark minimalist components into one of its best-known collections to create the new red gold Streamliner Tourbillon Vantablack, which is also the first non-steel model within the award-winning Streamliner collection.

The new H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Vantablack.

For this debut, the Schaffhausen-based independent watchmaker places its highly efficient, dual-hairspring automatic HMC 804 one-minute flying tourbillon caliber beneath a Vantablack dial, a design that features high-tech Vantablack, an ultra-black coating that absorbs more than 99 percent of all light.

The resulting ‘black hole’ dial beautifully contrasts with the finely wrought tourbillon at the 6 o’clock position, all framed by the Streamliner’s striking, Deco-influence cushion-shaped 5N red gold case.

H. Moser has created at least two Vantablack dials for watches in its Streamliner case. You might recall that H. Moser presented what may have been a precursor to this model with the steel-cased Streamliner Tourbillon with a Vantablack dial for the 2021 Only Watch charity auction. H. Moser also displayed a non-tourbillon iteration earlier this year at Watches and Wonders in Geneva when it displayed a one-off Streamliner ‘stealth concept’ watch.  

Here H. Moser & Cie. carefully enhances a sharp black/gold contrast by fixing the dial’s red gold indexes from the back of the dial so that they appear or disappear against the Vantablack. All this is framed by a case that H. Moser finishes with vertical brushing alternating with polished lines — an effect mirrored along the fully integrated red gold bracelet.As noted, H. Moser’s automatic HMC 804 caliber powers the watch and is equipped with a double hairspring made by H. Moser & Cie.’s sister company Precision Engineering AG. This component, just one of many technical highlights found throughout H. Moser’s designs, reduces friction and improves the movement’s accuracy and isochronism. (See below for full specifications.) Price: $119,900. 

 

Specifications: H. Moser & Cie Streamliner Tourbillon Vantablack

(Reference 6804-0400)

Movement: HMC 804 automatic Manufacture caliber, frequency of 21,600 vibrations/hour,  automatic bi-directional pawl winding system, oscillating weight in 18-karat red gold with engraved H. Moser & Cie. logo, power reserve of three days, original double hairspring, one-minute flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock with skeletonized bridges.

Case: 40mm by 12.1mm 5N red gold topped by a slightly domed sapphire crystal, screw-in crown adorned with an engraved M, see-through sapphire crystal case-back, water-resistant to 120 meters.

Dial: Vantablack,  hour and minute hands with Globolight inserts, indices secured from the back of the dial using a plate.

Bracelet: Integrated in 5N red gold, folding clasp with three blades in 5N red gold, engraved with the Moser logo. 

Half-links available.

Price: $119,900. 

by
Keep Reading
Oris

Oris Sweetens Cotton Candy Diver Series

Oris celebrates the summer with a colorful addition to its successful bronze-cased Diver’s Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ series, which debuted last year. With their pastel blue, green and pink dials, the 38mm confections were a tasty confection amid a challenging year.

One of the three Oris Diver’s Sixty-Five ‘Cotton Candy’ models, showing new matching Perlon strap.

This month, the independent watchmaker extends the Cotton Candy collection with matching recycled Perlon straps for each model. The textile is woven and attached to the wrist with a bronze buckle.

 

The new series maintains the same set of technical specifications as the earlier series, which debuted with either a bronze bracelet or a light brown leather strap.

Oris fits each watch with a Sellita-based Oris 733 automatic movement, protected by a nicely domed sapphire crystal and a case water-resistant to 100 meters. All hands and applied indices are filled with bright SuperLuminova. Price: $2,600. 

 

Specifications: Oris Diver’s Sixty Five Cotton Candy

Case: 38mm multi-piece bronze, uni-directional rotating bezel with bronze inlay and minute scale in relief. Sapphire crystal is domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside. Screwed caseback is specially engraved. Bronze screw-in security crown, water resistance to 100 meters.

Movement: Automatic Oris 733 (Sellita-based), hours, minutes and seconds, date window, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine-timing device and stop-second. Frequency of  28,800 vph with 38-hour power reserve.

Dial: Sky blue, wild green or lipstick pink, applied indices and hands with Super-Luminova.

Bracelet: Recycled Perlon strap colored to match dial, bronze buckle.

Price: $2,600.

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Chronoswiss Debuts Celestial-Themed Collection

Chronoswiss premiers its new Space Timer collection with two models, the Space Timer Moonwalk and the Space Timer Jupiter.

Both 44mm steel models echo the Lucerne-based watchmaker’s Open Gear regulator series, with its hour display hand at 12 o’clock, prominent central minutes hand, a visible gear train (with massive skeltonized  bridge) and the trademark Chronoswiss onion crown.

The new Chronoswiss Space Timer Moonwalk.

But these new Space Timer models differ from the Open Gear series with a celestial theme that replaces the retrograde seconds hand with a large moon phase and date sub-dial.  

For the Moonwalk model, Chronoswiss naturally emphasizes that moon-phase display, crafting it from titanium and placing tiny steel beads around the sundial as date markers, set between Arabic numerals.

The hour and date disks are both made of ITR2, a new-generation carbon nanotube-based material that Chronoswiss says is eight times lighter than steel and can be polished, sandblasted, painted or satin finished. 

Here, the watchmaker has partially skeletonized the hour display in part to “create the illusion that time – the day, the moon, the stars – seem to float in the interstellar void.”

Chronoswiss also developed a hand-crafted guilloche ‘Moonwalk’ pattern to decorate the dial. When the large SuperLuminova cylindrical markers (and even the luminous hands) throw light on that rolling, zigzag guilloché pattern, the resulting reflections recall the sun’s reflections on moon’s surface.

All the skeletonized hands, including the red date indicator, are powered by the ETA-based Chronoswiss C.308 automatic movement, visible via the sapphire back and displaying an oscillating weight finished with a Cote de Geneve.

Gassy Jupiter 

Instead of a patterned guilloche dial, the Chronoswiss Space Timer Jupiter shines with a laser-sculpted dial with a nano-print finish designed to mimic the sandy hues and drifting gases of the massive planet.

The new Chronoswiss Space Timer Jupiter.

And unlike the blue ITR2 date disk found on the Moonwalk, the Planet Jupiter offers a translucent ITR2 disk that, as on the Moonwalk, is set with tiny steel ‘micro-planets.’ A sand-colored titanium sphere illuminates the moon phase, matching the larger dial.

The Chronoswiss Space Timer Jupiter is also powered by the ETA-based Chronoswiss C.308 automatic caliber.  

Chronoswiss is inaugurating its Space Timer collection with both the Space Timer Jupiter and the Space Timer Moonwalk, each as a limited edition of fifty. Each new model is priced at $17,100.

by
Keep Reading
Featured News

Watches With a Cause

By Gary Girdvainis 

The Maurice Lacroix Aikon #tide is made from #Tide plastics. This material, which includes fabric, rope and more, has been recovered and up-cycled for use as a watch case material.

Maurice Lacroix offers its Aikon #tide in ten colors on a white or black recycled strap.Truly a laudable ideal, recovering, reusing and recycling / upcycling is the wave (pun intended) of the future. More companies at-large, and a host of watch brands in-particular, are recognizing the value of conservation and recycling.

The Ulysse Nardin Lemon Shark

Whether this is an earnest effort by leadership concerned with the state and fate of the planet, or the more mercenary motivation of a marketing mantra is actually a moot point. Doing good is worth it, whether it comes from the heart – or feeds the bottom line.

Ulysse Nardin backs Ocearch’s mission to provide resources to better understand the shark’s role in the ocean’s fragile ecosystem.

Oris helps rebuild ocean reefs and invests in clean water initiatives, Ulysse Nardin supports the amazing work of Chris Fischer and the Ocearch research team gathering (and notably sharing) data on ocean going apex predators as well as sea turtles, Blancpain’s Ocean Commitment comes to life around the world in partnership with various scientific and oceanic entities to study and preserve various aquatic ecosystems. 

Other brands, like IWC, are vying for carbon neutrality in manufacturing, while Mondaine and others are using unusual sources to develop their own sustainable sources for environmentally friendly materials for cases and straps.

From my perspective as an avid outdoorsman and current resident of the planet, I appreciate these efforts and will continue to promote these relationships in our coverage and encourage more brands to engage as they are able to in conservation, philanthropy, and other altruistic endeavors. 

It’s About Time…to save the planet – one watch at a time…

This article first appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of About Time. 

 

by
Keep Reading
The Watches

Maurice Lacroix Scores with New Aikon Chronograph

Maurice Lacroix adds an extra sporty model to its popular Aikon collection with the new King of the Court Special Edition, a quartz chronograph dedicated to the King of the Court series of beach volleyball tournaments.

The new Maurcie Lacroix Aikon King of the Court Special Edition.

As the King of the Court’s official timekeeper, Maurice Lacroix launches the 42mm titanium chronograph with eye-catching black, white and golden yellow color accents to match the volleyball organization’s official colors. In addition, you’ll find that the case back is engraved with the King of the Court logo.

For those evening matches, Maurice Lacroix ensures easy dial visibility with extra strong luminescent material on the watch’s hour and minute hands.

Maurice Lacroix supplies a three-color premium-quality rubber strap with the watch. The watchmaker says the new strap is “more flexible, aiding wearer comfort and provides superior wear resistance.”

And as is the case with the full Aikon collection, the new watch is also endowed with the Easy Strap Exchange system that allows for tool-free strap changes. Price: $1,500.

by
Keep Reading